Summer

A soup that looks and tastes garden-fresh, this is a good one to serve all summer long.

This garden-fresh medley is a good choice when you want a summery soup that is slightly warm rather than chilled.

This brightly colored soup makes a delightful introduction to a summer dinner, or it can be the centerpiece of a light meal accompanied by salad-filled wraps.

This summery version of the classic stew makes use of summer’s lush tomatoes and fresh herbs. Serve with slices of fresh whole-grain baguette or olive bread.

While fresh local corn is abundant in early fall, the most tempting way to eat it is right off the cob. But cooking with fresh corn can be equally appealing. Its sweetness and crunch can’t be matched by frozen corn kernels. Serve this with Hearty Bean Bread (page 146) and a green salad for a filling meal.

Believe it or not, eggplants have genders. Look for male eggplants, which have a shallow scar at their base, rather than female eggplants, which have a deeper indentation like a belly button. Male eggplants have fewer seeds and supposedly taste less bitter.

Brooke is a Georgia girl, so during peach season, she just loves to eat as many peaches as she can. We came up with this pretty, layered dessert for her. Just like Brooke, it’s light, lovely, and as Southern as it comes.

When I thought about writing a cookbook, I didn’t want to create one like many of the ones I saw on the market already—books that had a bunch of made-up barbecue recipes for things like grilled peaches. Then I realized that I actually do grill peaches in the summertime when I want a little something sweet for dessert! You can read other people’s versions, but mine is the best. Tip: Make these when you’re already smoking something in the smoker, so it’s already hot and you can just lay them in there; don’t make it hard for yourself. If you are using wooden skewers, they must be soaked in water for at least 12 hours before using. If you have stainless steel or other metal skewers, soaking is not a concern.

When I host cooking school weekends at my place, I often do a Lowcountry Boil on Friday nights for my usual “meet and greet” session, where the folks attending can get to know one another—and me—a little bit. This is a specialty of the Lowcountry areas like Charleston and Savannah, where the people live near the water and have access to plenty of fresh shrimp. But of course you don’t need to live near the water to enjoy it. The traditional way to serve this is to basically dump it—spread it, if you will—across a large picnic table that has been covered with newspaper. You may want to fancy up the serving situation, but it’s fine to keep it casual, too. You can just tell your guests that’s how they do it down South.

Mutton is a lamb’s older brother; lambs are less than a year old and are tender, while mutton has a stronger smell and a more intense game flavor. They love mutton in western Kentucky; it’s the traditional meat that’s barbecued there, and I know this because a few years ago I won the Kentucky state mutton championship cooking that very thing. My secret is treat it like a pork butt with an attitude. Note that this ain’t lamb chops: you’ve got to inject the meat and cook it for a while to get it tender. It’s worth it. One tip: Don’t put damn mint jelly on this meat. My Tangy Sweet Sauce is the only way to go.

Deviled eggs remind me of church picnics and Fourth of July parties and just about every occasion I grew up going to where there was food involved. Of course I make my own deviled eggs, but you know I’m not going to make them like everybody else’s; I put my own stamp on them. And that means barbecue. Deviled eggs stuffed with a little of it makes them better than you’ve ever had them, I promise you that.

I always try to make any food taste good by preparing it as simply as possible. This comes from the original idea of how barbecue was started and why it has become so popular: It’s a way to cheaply and efficiently feed a lot of people some tasty food. My beans recipe is no different. I keep it simple and focus on enhancing the flavors that people have come to love and expect in baked beans. I’m not trying to fool anybody here: baked beans are a barbecue staple. And some people just don’t like them at all because they tend to be sweet. In other words, I’m not trying to convert anybody with this recipe; I’m preaching to the converted. This is my take on how classic baked beans always ought to taste. Note that you have to soak your beans overnight to get them tender; some people say you don’t, but I believe it’s the only way to really make sure they’re going to taste right. If time is an issue, you can substitute canned baked beans in this recipe; personally, I think they taste great, too.

Beef tenderloin is an expensive, delicate cut of meat that has been blessed with a lot of natural flavor. My thinking is that it needs only a little enhancing, not a total makeover. That’s why I don’t recommended injecting it. Instead I marinate it, just to add some flavor. One last detail: Beef tenderloin is tender to start with, and overcooking turns it tough. I repeat: Do not overcook this meat. It won’t be worth a damn if you do. If rare to medium-rare ain’t your bag, move on and cook a sirloin.

In 2004, I won a big burger-cooking contest in Whistler, British Columbia, against a bunch of other professional barbecue cooks. “You were shooting to do America’s favorite burger better than it’s ever been done before, and you definitely pulled it off.” That’s what Paul Street, the director of food and beverage at Whistler Blackcomb, declared when I was named the champion. Part of winning the competition was the honor of your burger appearing on their menu for a year; my burger’s been on the menu ever since that day. My secret is to smoke the burger first, then sear it in a bit of butter afterward to seal in the moisture, create a crust, and add an extra layer of flavor and richness. I just wanted to come up with the best damn burger I could—one that was meaty and juicy and also infused with great smoky flavor. Now cooking burgers in a smoker is a must for me because I love it when the meat is kissed with smoke; if you’ve never tried it this way, you ought to. That said, you can do the first step in the oven on those days you don’t want to fire up a smoker or grill—it will still be delicious, don’t you worry. I like generously portioned burgers, and these are half-pounders. Feel free to make them smaller if you like.

A pork chop is just a bone-in slice of the pork loin, which is located beneath a hog’s ribs and against its backbone. It’s a great piece of meat to sink your teeth into, which is why so many people like a pork chop—but it doesn’t have a lot of natural fat. This means that it needs some help in the flavor department. Here’s how I do it. It’ll be the best pork chop you ever had. No joke.

When you’re talking cow, there are the short ribs (which are good) and there are the back ribs, the big guys, which are tenderlicious. The reason beef ribs are so tender and succulent is because the rib roast, a prime piece of meat, sits right above this section of ribs. So they’re prime, too. Cooking them is second nature to me because they happen to look and act a lot like pork baby backs, except of course they’re a lot larger. I don’t marinate my beef ribs because they come from one of the most marbled areas of the cow, which means they’re loaded with natural flavor already. I like my food to be nicely seasoned, but I never want my seasoning to overpower a meat’s inherent flavor; seasoning doesn’t ever need to be over the top.

My favorite rib to cook and eat is the baby back, because I learned competitive cooking at MIM contests and that’s their rib of choice. I just developed a real love for them. They’re fun to cook and fun to eat, and they almost always earn me money. Even I can’t ask for more than that!